The oldest neighborhoods flood, not the poorest
We scored 116 metro Detroit communities and about 1,100 neighborhoods on basement-flood risk using public housing and flood data. Here is what the numbers show.
Why age, not income, predicts the risk
Sump pumps, exterior weeping tile, and backwater valves only became standard in homes built after the 1960s. Older homes rely on original clay drain tiles that crack and clog over decades. Layer on the heavy clay soil that blankets southeast Michigan, which holds water against foundations instead of letting it drain, and the aging combined sewers common in the inner ring, and the pattern is clear: the communities at the top of the list average 81% of homes built before 1960, while the lowest-risk communities average just 9%.
That is why some of the metro's most established, highest-value communities, the Grosse Pointes, Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, Berkley, sit near the top. The June 2021 storms made the cost visible: tens of thousands of basements underwater in a single weekend and a federal disaster declaration for Wayne County.
The 12 highest-risk communities
Highest risk: the full top 15
| # | Community | BRI | Pre-1960 | Median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pleasant Ridge | 100 | 94% | $393,900 |
| 2 | Grosse Pointe | 96 | 88% | $379,400 |
| 3 | Grosse Pointe Park | 96 | 88% | $445,100 |
| 4 | Detroit | 92 | 78% | $66,700 |
| 5 | Hamtramck | 91 | 80% | $103,100 |
| 6 | Grosse Pointe Farms | 88 | 86% | $409,200 |
| 7 | Huntington Woods | 87 | 87% | $457,600 |
| 8 | Ferndale | 85 | 78% | $218,000 |
| 9 | River Rouge | 83 | 74% | $49,200 |
| 10 | Berkley | 82 | 79% | $275,100 |
| 11 | Wyandotte | 79 | 76% | $147,900 |
| 12 | Eastpointe | 77 | 77% | $115,100 |
| 13 | Allen Park | 77 | 77% | $165,600 |
| 14 | Redford Township | 77 | 77% | $130,900 |
| 15 | Grosse Pointe Woods | 77 | 75% | $309,700 |
Lowest risk
The lowest-scoring communities are newer, outer suburbs, built mostly after modern basement drainage became standard. Low is not zero on clay soil, but the structural exposure is far smaller.
| # | Community | BRI | Pre-1960 | Median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 116 | Macomb Township | 1 | 4% | $337,900 |
| 115 | Lyon Township | 2 | 7% | $426,900 |
| 114 | Canton Township | 3 | 3% | $329,900 |
| 113 | Novi | 3 | 5% | $380,200 |
| 112 | Northville Township | 3 | 7% | $490,800 |
| 111 | Oakland Township | 3 | 9% | $528,900 |
| 110 | Brownstown Township | 4 | 9% | $242,500 |
| 109 | Chesterfield Township | 5 | 8% | $258,200 |
| 108 | Washington Township | 6 | 11% | $366,100 |
| 107 | Springfield Township | 7 | 10% | $348,500 |
How risk is measured
The Basement Risk Index is a 0–100 score. The two largest inputs are U.S. Census measures of housing age, the share of homes built before 1960 and the median year built. The City of Detroit's score also incorporates 13,012 documented Improve Detroit / 311 water-in-basement reports; suburban scores are modeled from housing data and labeled as such. Scores are rescaled across all 116 communities; the metro median is 36. Full detail is on our methodology page.
See your own community
Look up your neighborhood on the interactive Basement Risk Index map.
Open the map →For journalists and local sites
This data is free to use and cite. We are happy to provide the full ranking, the methodology, or a neighborhood-level breakdown for any community you cover: hello@basementriskcheck.com.